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If K-Cups are considered the future of the coffee industry, new
research is calling into question the future of the K-Cup --
particularly as billions of discarded pods amass in our nation’s
landfills every year.

The convenience and value offered by the system,
environmentalists contend, has come at a grave new cost.

While the individual components of each K-Cup -- plastic shell,
paper filter, foil lid and coffee grounds -- are recyclable on
their own, the small quantity of each material and the hybrid
construction of each capsule makes it too difficult for recycling
facilities to dismantle and sort.

The environmental impact is becoming so staggering that even
Keurig itself is vowing major reforms. In a sustainability report for fiscal 2013, the
company says it will aim to make 100 percent of its K-Cups
recyclable by 2020.

“We are considering the type of plastic we use and looking for
ways to make the components of the pack easier to separate,” the
company said.

But if 2020 doesn’t sound nearly soon enough, there are
alternatives. Keurig manufactures its own reusable filter, called
the My K-Cup, which can be filled with any
kind of ground coffee. But it must be cleaned after each use,
minimizing the machine’s cherished convenience factor.

On the other hand, San Francisco Bay Coffee offers the OneCup --
a 98.6 percent bio-degradable option that
does away with a plastic shell entirely, comprising a
paper-based lid, plant-based ring and a poly mesh filter (the
only piece that is still not biodegradable, the company says.)

In the meantime, particularly conscientious consumers have even
posted YouTube tutorials on how the used pods can
be washed out, repacked and resealed with specialty lids.